Straight From Yard

Wray & Nephew’s legacy has remained strong for over 200 years, remaining an active and formidable force in the drinks industry. However, the one key thing that was lacking was a cohesive umbrella strategy that unified all their various activities and principles.

Campari UK tasked us to unify their communications through a message that resonated with customers and also exuberated the brand’s DNA.

Regardless of the brand, people buy into authenticity. Self-expression & authentic products are essential to our audience, and so ignoring Wray’s Jamaican roots would be a huge mistake.

 To understand what the brand means to people (its authenticity), we conducted our own research and pulled out the gems that struck a chord with the brand. Here’s what we found:

• If the creative expressions of young urbanites define urban culture, the community is the safe space to support their voices.

• Community is the central hub, a shared thought, belief & ideas told through different voices, experiences, cultural identities and language.

• This hub and community nature are personified through culture.

• Urban culture is the current climate of young people; the community is the collective voice.

• Individuals spearhead this and push forward the culture; the community brings their experiences together.

• This sense of community is felt in your local area by the people you grew up with and share experiences with, as well as your family heritage/traditions, especially those rooted in your hometown. And for Wray & Nephew, this home and community is their Jamaican spirit.

These principles, learnings and observations were bottled and captured in one powerful statement – ‘STRAIGHT FROM YARD’.

Straight From Yard can mean ‘from home/the motherland’. It captures the essence of an individual’s community & heritage and also Wray & Nephew’s Jamaican rum-making process and history – a tribute to the island of Jamaica. It’s a reminder we give ourselves to ensure that we’re staying on track and not deviating too far from what defines this brand.

A key aspect of a demographic’s heritage is its language. For our communication strap-line to resonate with our audience, we knew it was vital to stay within these elements. Patois is a distinctive language, but individuals and brands can easily imitate it. This can lead to overuse and forcedness (even when originating from a Jamaican/Caribbean brand) when not used in the right context or if there is a lack of proper understanding of the language and its delivery.

By using language appropriately and avoiding slang or colloquial phrases, the brand's credibility will be protected while also demonstrating that Wray & Nephew is in touch with the present.

 Straight From Yard underpins all the elements from our research to represent:

 Authenticity I Pride I Leadership I Cultural Relevance I Brand DNA

Straight From Yard is a malleable and adaptable platform. Its dynamic nature means it can be used in various ways for the brand across music, food, culture and more.

This communication strapline provides direction and stability for the brand; acting as a cultural compass, it guides how Wray & Nephew should position itself in all brand activities. It guides our decision-making by providing a set of checks we should go through and questions we should ask ourselves to determine if we are making the right decisions.

Our research and understanding of the consumer are testaments to our team’s ability to resonate with urban culture, understand what matters to them, and listen to their thoughts, ideologies, and ethos. Our network has enabled us to reach diverse target audience segments, making our strategy more meaningful and impactful.

About Wray & Nephew

Wray & Nephew has been Jamaica’s most-loved rum for nearly 200 years. An intrinsic part of Jamaican culture, Wray & Nephew is present at almost every milestone in the daily lives of Jamaicans; from birth to death, it is used to welcome newborns into the family or even poured onto the foundations of a new space to cleanse and ward off evil spirits.

 With subtle notes of pineapple and banana, it is a full-strength, versatile and flavourful white rum that is full of character.

Here’s how we translated this strategy into a lively experiential event that brought together all of our communication elements - The Yard Shop Pop-Up.